Saturday, April 18, 2015

When Yellow Owl Workshop's new Indigo Dye Kit arrived in the shop a couple of weeks ago we were all abuzz with ideas of things to dye: tea towels, onesies for the littles, a tote to debut when the farmer's market starts back up. Then the 'ah-ha!' moment happened, a mini tee-pee tent to go in the window. Here's how to make your own.

Six 5' long PVC pipes (if you want a taller tee-pee, get longer PCV pipe)

A drill with 1/4" bit

A sewing machine, a needle and thread, or a friend who can sew

White cotton fabric, we used 3 yards (our friend who sews studied fashion design and is a fabric whiz, so you might need a little extra fabric if you want wiggle room or are making a larger tee-pee)

Cardboard or wood cut into about 6" squares

Rubber bands, a good handful

A bucket or another vessel to dye in

18" of jute twine or another type of hearty string

Washi tape

Mark and drill two holes in the PCV pipe about 6" from one end, try to keep them even on either side so that it's easy to string your twine through the holes.

Line the pipes up so that you can string the twine through each pipe. Roll the pipes together to create a loop with all of the holes and tie your twine tight.

Prop your tee-pee skeleton up (as shown below with my sweet Samson cat dancing inside). Make each side as even as you can. Measure the empty triangle spaces and find an average of your lengths. You'll want to give yourself about 1" extra on all sides for your seam allowances. The drawing to the right shows the shape you'll be measuring, the dotted line being that extra 1".

Sew each panel together side by side so that you end up with a shape resembling a semi-circle, you don't need to sew the two ends together at this point.

Now you get to break open that dye kit! Yellow Owl Workshop gives great dying instructions so be sure to read through those. Simply put: soak your fabric, dye it, and let it dry.

This post from Design*Sponge gives excellent directions for a few different dying techniques, I used the square accordion fold. This is where those 6" wooden squares come in. If you're trying out a different technique, you may just use rubber bands.

Wring out your soaked fabric and lay it flat to begin folding. I started by folding the first three panels on top of the others, then folded each panel on one another again to work with the shape of just one panel. Fold that shape into the longest rectangle you can, then zig-zag the folds back and forth and sandwich them between the two pieces of wood. Rubber band the whole thing together tightly.

You can go about dying in two ways. The first option is to use the dye dauber in the kit to draw on the exposed bits of fabric. I tried this option first and it worked, but the ink didn't flow as well to create the softer look I was going for. I then tried a more traditional dying method, filling a bucket with a mixture of dye and water and let my fabric and wood sandwich sit in the bucket for 20 minutes. You can pop the top of the ink dauber off to pour the dye into a bucket. For a lighter indigo use more water, for a more bold color use less.

Once you've finished dying the fabric unfold and let it dry. Don't do any rinsing, it will desaturate the dye. While you're waiting for it to dry, use colorful washi tape to cover any bits of PVC pipe that will be exposed (we have all sorts of colors and patterns and even glitter tape at the shop).

When your fabric is dry, wrap it around the PVC and sew the end panels together from the top of the tee-pee. We sewed about the foot so that we had a wide opening, if you want a smaller opening just sew further down. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the final tee-pee!

I added a fun starry touch the windows below. They are so easy to make and you could make a mobile with them or decorate for your next dinner party, maybe even hang them above a table for a fun seating chart.

You will need:

Foam core

Utility knife

A cutting surface

Acrylic paint

Paint brush

Kraft paper or paper bags

Needle

Fishing line

Cut star shapes from the foam core with the exacto knife. They don't need to be perfect. I love the way they look when they're all a little different. I also made a moon by tracing two different sized plates.

Paint each star front and back. Roll out some kraft paper so you don't paint the floor. I used a matte black paint for a sort of chalky look but you could really use any color.

String them up with the needle and fishing line. Now you have your very own starry night!

This window brings so much fun and whimsy. It makes me want to go camping in my living room with a thousand pillows and watch Moonrise Kingdom with my brother and sister. There's always something so great about remembering all of the little things that can bring such joy.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Next week, we'll be packing up lots of beautiful invitations and heading down to BHLDN Chestnut Hill to join some of our favorite industry friends for their annual Wedding Fair. We are just thrilled to be involved (you know we are BHLDN-aholics!) and can't wait to chat with brides and grooms about all things wedding. We'll have lots of beautiful samples to show you, a fab DIY stationery bar where you can create your own noteset and an INCREDIBLE giveaway contest that you won't want to miss.

Visit here to register for the event - you won't want to miss it. See you soon!

Thursday, March 26, 2015

At Gus & Ruby we adore all things beautiful. We love to focus on the tactile nature of the details, whether it's the impression an inked plate makes into 100% cotton paper, or it's a handmade bag where you can see the stitches that hold the fabric together. We fill the windows with our favorite products and custom work and we see the window displays as another creative venue, to make a beautiful space.

Lucky for me, it's my job to execute the projects we daydream about installing in the windows. I wanted to start sharing this process in a new blog post that I'll write after each new window has debuted. It's so fun to connect with others who enjoy relishing in color palettes, textures, light, and beauty the way that I do. I can't wait to hear from you about your own projects, tip, tricks, and things that you would love to see from us at Gus & Ruby!

One of my favorite things about dreaming up new projects for the windows is re-inventing things we use everyday, this time I used waxed paper and crayons. Below I'll describe how to do it yourself!

You will need:

Crayons

Wax paper

Kraft paper

Iron

Scissors or a circle punch

Needle and thread

You will need a lot of crayons. I used 3 boxes of 100 crayons to fill our windows (keep in mind that you may only use part of the box of crayons).

Pick out your color palette and take out all of those crayons. I chose greens and blues, but whatever palette you choose will end up looking lovely. Roughly separate all of your colors so that when you begin melting you don't get a pool of brown.

You will need to peel the paper off of the crayons and then break them down. There are a few ways to go about this. You could go for the tried and true pencil sharpener method, the chop on the cutting board tactic, or the easy way: the blender! Use your best judgement, not all blenders are created equal and I don't want you risking your morning smoothie routine.

I did use my blender (it worked like a dream) and pulsed the crayons for about 15 seconds and got a great powdery result. I dumped all of my powdered crayons into the compartments of an egg carton for easy access later, but several bowls would do the trick!

Here's when you start seeing what you'll end up with!

Tear sheets of waxed paper into 6-by-16 inch sheets. Fold the sheet in half to make a 3-by-16 inch rectangle.

Open your rectangle back up and sprinkle your crayon bits evenly across the wax paper. A little bit goes a long way, I used about 1/2 a tablespoon per wax paper rectangle.

Fold your wax paper back to make a sandwich over the crayons, cover with kraft paper to protect your iron. Press the iron to melt the crayons. Let them cool and cut them into circles.

String them together with a needle and thread and repeat!

And that's it! The installed 'curtains' look so lovely with the light shining through. Stay tuned for the next window post. I'm so excited to continue sharing these oh-so-fun projects!

Friday, March 20, 2015

We have this great all natural egg coloring kit in the shop, made in Portland, ME. It includes a few eco-crayons to try out relief coloring, 3 colored dye packets (with instructions to create up to 3 more colors), and a wire egg dipper. The natural dyes are made from gardenia flowers, curcumin, annatto seeds, beets, red cabbage, and purple sweet potato. We gave if a whirl and it was so fun and easy.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

To celebrate and say THANK YOU to all our amazing fans, we're holding a giveaway!

Warm weather is approaching and that means it's time for adventures!
One lucky person will win this fun striped weekend duffel bag- perfect
for all the Spring and Summer trips to come!

To enter all you
need to do is visit our Facebook Page and add a comment to this post telling us what you like most
about spring. And if you share this post you'll be entered twice!
Giveaway ends Saturday March 7th at 11:59pm. We will announce the
winner Monday March 9th!

Friday, February 27, 2015

Is the never ending winter for 2015 finally driving you mad? The calendar says Spring is under a month away, we all know it is going to take a lot longer to actually start feeling that way outside. While I can't do anything about the weather, I do know something that is going to help your mood.

It is nearly impossible to feel gloomy with this fun spring collection for Ban.do! This design group for L.A. is inspired by disco balls, confetti cannons, and fizzy cocktails and it shows is everything they make. They do girly-girl to the extreme and remind you to have fun, ok?

Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you have to carry boring accessories!

This stripy duo is perfect for a weekend getaway or a day at the beach!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

We don't know about you, but here in Portsmouth it's safe to say we'd
all leave the snow behind if we had the chance! Whether you're
day-dreaming of a swift jet-set, planning your upcoming spring break or
you're just going to take advantage of your next free weekend, we
collected some of our faves for your next vay-cay.

The Escapist
From
top left to right:

Rhodia leather-bound notebook in iris: a lovely spot to write all about your
adventures.

Peter Pan: this cloth-bound gem is an excellent and quick
read... perfect whether you are jetting off or simply letting the classic tale take you away on an adventure of imagination!

Laney lunch tin: pack up lunch and set off on a living-room picnic.

Forestbound's Escape utility tote: if you are, indeed, setting off for adventure - this new bag is sure to set the tone for travels abroad.

Yellow Owl Workshop camera
pennant: this snappy necklace hangs at 30", is made of 22k gold and is a perfect accessory to the real deal.

Social Preparedness Kit: with 6
blank cards and 6 thank you notes with envelopes, this kit has
everything you need to thank your hosts, nice-to-meet-ya to new
pals, or to write home to your BFF if she isn't already adventuring with
you!

Sea-Worthy
From
top left to right:

Hand-in-Hand lip balm in sea salt: super hydrating
lip butter from a stellar company (they save 50 square feet rain forest, give clean water and a bar of soap to
children in need with every purchase).